SMHS Band Wins UC Marching Band Competition

Stone Memorial High School band named the 2024 Class A champions at the 41st Annual Upper Cumberland Marching Band Competition held at Cumberland County High School.

The Stone band, color guard and drum major, beat out five other schools for the title. First year band director Elana Douglas said they started working towards the competition in late-July and acknowledged the maturation in her band members in the two months since.

“I’ve seen incredible growth,” Douglas said. “It’s such a sight to see students figuring out ‘oh, I’m out of line’ and seeing them fix it. It’s like light bulb turns on and it’s so amazing to see them say ‘oh, I got this’.”

This year’s marching band only includes two seniors, Haze Randall and Cheyenne Hickey, and a total of 14 freshman. Douglas said winning this competition was a great experience for Randall and Hickey in their last year.

“And so not only for the seniors getting that memory, it’s also great for all the band members,” Douglas said. “Especially the freshman, so that they want to strive to get better. They want to go to more competitions, you know, they want to be the best.”

Douglas said that a change in band directors can cause a lot of band members to get nervous. But she said with the help from administration, this year has been a pleasant start.

“It is definitely exciting and I’m really grateful to be here at Stone Memorial,” Douglas said. “The administration has been so great and so helpful. It’s nerve wracking honestly, because it’s like I set the bar really high now.”

Douglas said she is already looking forward to next year’s competition and defending their title.